Board Chairperson for Keep Carroll Beautiful Jacqueline Dost shares:
As many of you are aware, over the past several years, the value of many recyclables worldwide has decreased as the levels of contamination have increased. In addition, the cost of transporting recyclables has increased due to higher fuel and insurance costs. Keep Carroll Beautiful, in partnership with the County Commission Chairman, Public Works Director and SLM Recycling, the contractor who operates the 10 county convenience centers, have met and discussed some very practical changes to recycling in Carroll County.
Beginning Monday, November 11, 2019, the Carrollton convenience centers at Newnan Road and Dyer Road will be the only sites where water bottles, soda bottles and milk jugs can be recycled. These plastics are identified with a number 1 or number 2 inside the recycling symbol. This will ensure that the quality and value of the recycling stream collected in Carroll County is maintained. The value of other plastic recyclables no longer covers the cost of collection and processing. In fact there is virtually no market domestically for plastics other than those listed above (#1 & #2).
The second change is the elimination of glass from the recycling program at all convenience centers. Once again, this is a result of the lack of demand for glass cullet which is the product that is made from the process of recycling glass. Glass is basically inert; it is melted sand. The recycling of glass actually creates more of an environmental footprint than it saves, meaning it has a zero positive environmental benefit once you factor in the transportation costs.
Additionally, Keep Carroll Beautiful, in partnership with the County, will be launching #RecylceRight an education initiative to ensure that this information is delivered to the residents of Carroll County. New convenience center cards have been printed and will be distributed around the county. Keep Carroll Beautiful’s website will have this information and there will be regular social media posts informing the public of these changes. The county’s website will also have information on the changes. There will also be new signs at the convenience centers where plastic can be recycled showing the types of bottles accepted. The education program is aimed at helping the public understand that just because an item has a recycling symbol on it, does not automatically mean that it can be recycled.
There will be no changes to the other items that are accepted at the convenience centers. Aluminum, tin, cardboard and paper will continue to be collected at the centers where they are currently accepted.
Keep Carroll Beautiful is the local, certified Keep America Beautiful Affiliate.
